South Dakota Representative Lynne DiSanto South Dakota will be considering a permitless, or "Constitutional" carry bill again this year. In 2012, a bill passed both the House and the Senate, but was vetoed by Gov Daugaard. In 2012, only Alaska, Arizona, Vermont and Wyoming had Constitutional carry. In 2015, Constitutional carry passed the South Dakota House, but was killed by a Senate Committee. It passed the House 44 to 23. The Senate was controlled by Republicans, 27 to 8. Now, in 2016, Constitutional carry is expected to be introduced by Representative Lynne DiSanto. From siouxcityjournal.com: PIERRE, S.D. —...

The Pentagon has responded to a globally-released ‘Kill List’, asking law enforcement to give extra protection for military personnel whose personal information was released,News Channel 10 reports. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports the Pentagon spent the weekend notifying the soldiers who appeared on the list, and urged city police departments and military police to increase patrol in the neighborhoods where the targeted live. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) published the list days ago, a report that contained names, photos, and home addresses of U.S. Armed Forces personnel, causing alarm in cities potentially at high-risk....

On the first of February, 2015, I wrote about a gun law reform bill introduced in the South Dakota House. The bill included a number of reforms, including removing the restriction on the legal carry of concealed firearms by people who could legally own firearms. The bill passed the House 44 to 23 on the 10th of February, 2015. The bill looked like a shoo in to pass the Senate, with Republicans in the majority in the South Dakota Senate, with 27 Republicans and 8 Democrats. But there have been a number of Republicans who are not interested in...

HB1116, has passed the South Dakota House, 44-23. While that is an enormous majority, it is short, by one vote, of the 2/3 necessary to override a potential veto by Governor Daugaard. The house has 70 members, 58 of which are Republicans. In the Senate, there are 27 Republicans and 8 Democrats, a bit tighter ratio. The Governor, Dennis Daugaard, has been in office since 2011. Governor Daugaard vetoed a constitutional carry bill in 2012, citing concerns of law enforcement officials. From the argusleader.com: Gov. Dennis Daugaard vetoed a bill Friday that would have allowed any resident 18...

A gun law reform bill, HB1116, has been introduced into the South Dakota house. The bill has 28 co-sponsors. The house has 70 members, 58 of which are Republicans, and 12 Democrats. 36 votes will be needed to pass the bill. In the Senate, there are 27 Republicans and 8 Democrats, a bit tighter ratio. The South Dakota Governor is Dennis Daugaard, who has been in office since 2011. Governor Daugaard vetoed a constitutional carry bill in 2012, citing concerns of law enforcement officials. In 2013, Governor Daugaard signed a bill that specifically allowed school districts to...

The investigation into Saturday night’s alleged harassment of a Native American school group at a Rapid City hockey game is focused on a man from Philip, according to a source who was near the incident when it occurred. Meanwhile, that same person says the incident was ignited when some members of the school group reportedly did not stand for the National Anthem prior to the start of the Rapid City Rush game. That claim, however, was flatly denied by several of the adults who were with the school group and say the children from the Pine Ridge school did stand...

South Dakota's suddenly tight Senate race is suddenly not so tight again, according to the polls. Still, none of the four candidates has majority support. Polls released in recent days show Republican Mike Rounds with bigger leads than in the previous round of polling. A KELO/Sioux Falls Argus Leader poll conducted Oct. 20-23 showed Rounds with 42 percent support; Democrat Rick Weiland at 33 percent; independent Larry Pressler at 13 percent; and independent Gordon Howie at 2 percent. Another 10 percent of respondents were undecided. An NBC News/Marist poll conducted Oct. 19-23 showed Rounds at 43 percent, Weiland at 29...

The three-way race for South Dakota’s open Senate seat got more complicated Wednesday, when the Sioux Falls Argus Leader published a page one story alleging that former Governor Mike Rounds, the Republican candidate and current leader in the polls, had approved $600,000 in state assistance to a company that was about hire a member of his cabinet. According to reporter David Montgomery, then Secretary of Tourism and State Development Richard Benda requested the assistance for Northern Beef Packers about two weeks before he and Rounds were to leave office. Benda was about to go to work for a company with...

Virtually every major electoral forecaster had described the three-way race in South Dakota -- along with likely lopsided contests in West Virginia and Montana -- as a sure thing for Republicans hungry to win a Senate majority. Top Democrats have come to disagree with the conventional wisdom, however. And they’re betting serious money against it. Signs of Democratic optimism surfaced last week. RCP reported Public Policy Polling’s Tom Jensen assertion that the race “is just as competitive as the ones in places like New Hampshire and Michigan that have drawn far more attention.” Then the levee broke: Bloomberg Politics reported...

When an Oglala Sioux Tribal police officer used her Taser several times on a man lying helpless on the ground in Manderson on Friday afternoon, she was trying to get the man "to wake up and stand up," Ron Duke, chief of the OST Department of Public Safety, said Monday. The man, Duke said, was "lying on the ground, probably passed out, clearly intoxicated." The incident was caught on camera by a passerby who taped the officer repeatedly zapping the man who appears to never resist, defend himself or make any threatening moves. An expert in Tasers said using the...

Gordon Howie, a former South Dakota state senator, has filed a petition to run as an Independent for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Tim Johnson. In the June Republican primary former governor Mike Rounds will be running against Stace Nelson. November’s ballot will list the winner of the Republican primary, Howie, Democrat Rick Weiland and Independent Larry Pressler. Howie says he will withdraw from the race if Nelson wins the Republican primary.

The guns have been silent at American Clarion for the past two days, laid low by a devastating fall blizzard in West River South Dakota. Power has been intermittent and completely out during that time. The snow started Friday morning with overnight rain transitioning directly into snow. It was sticking and becoming slushy right away, and not long after daylight Friday morning, the power started to come on and go off, come on and go off. By late Friday afternoon, the snow was starting to pile up: more than a foot in many places in the Rapid City area. At...

For one group of women, Saturday was the first time they ever shot a gun, but it was for a good reason! A special group was in Humbolt to help teach the group about self-defense when using a firearm. At Hunter's Point Shooting Club, over 50 women of all ages were taking safety to a whole new level. “I don't want to be scared, I want to be prepared,” said Kara Williams, Brandon. Williams and her friend Candace Berndt were just two women taking part in Saturday's firearms self-defense class. The woman said they've wanted to learn how to safely...

When South Dakota’s former two-term Gov. Mike Rounds made it official last week that he would seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator in 2014, it was national news. After an election year in which Republicans began with high hopes of winning a majority in the Senate only to end with a net loss of two seats from their ranks, news that Rounds was poised to challenge Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson was truly something to cheer for the dispirited GOP. “Instantly competitive,” is how the Hill characterized the likely contest between conservative Rounds and two-term liberal Democrat Johnson (lifetime American...

~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base near Rapid City in Meade County and Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is home to the 28th Bomb Wing of the Air Combat Command (ACC), operating the B-1B Lancer.As host wing, the 28th Bomb Wing includes an operations group, a maintenance group, a mission support group, and a medical group. The base controls all air space 40 miles (64 km) around its area, including all landings at nearby Rapid City Regional Airport,...

RAPID CITY, SD - A North Rapid City neighborhood is in shock after an early morning shooting. Police say it happened during a home invasion where the home owner shot and killed the intruder shortly before 5 a.m. When police arrived they found at 21-year old Dallas Two Bulls' body. He was shot three times by a homeowner acting in self defense. Residents in the neighborhood woke up to an unfamiliar sight. "A couple of police cars and the crime tape spread across, there. And we were just scratching our heads wondering what was going on," neighbor Byford Avery said....

SIOUX FALLS, SD, July 24, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – South Dakota won a critical legal battle today, as the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the last contested portion of a 2005 pro-life law. The law, H.B. 1166, requires that women considering abortion be told critical biological information and directed to alternate means of help before undergoing an abortion. By a 7-4 vote, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a portion of the law that tells women abortion leads to an increased risk of depression and suicide. “On its face, the suicide advisory presents neither an undue burden on abortion...

Gun advocates are celebrating Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether’s announcement rescinding an Executive Order banning guns on city property. The city attorney said the policy would not hold up if challenged in court. Representatives from Open Carry South Dakota, a group in favor of open weapons laws, say the repeal expands personal freedoms. “The people doing this legally are not the people you'll be afraid of. The people you'll be afraid of are the ones doing it anyways,” Open Carry South Dakota Spokesman Don Hixon said. The group made the announcement Wednesday night in front of City Hall. Before the...

--a tree-hugger gets caught--- Brian Brademeyer is charged with painting over markings to trick Forest Service crews into cutting down trees. Black Hills environmentalist Brian Brademeyer has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of illegally marking trees to be cut in a U.S. Forest Service timber sale. Brademeyer agreed prior to a proceeding scheduled for Thursday in federal court to pay a $475 fine, plus a $25 processing fee. The maximum penalty for the charge, a federal petty offense, was $5,000 and six months in jail. Contacted by email Friday, Brademeyer confirmed that he was paying the $500 but did...

The Old West re-enactor who fired four bullets into a crowd of tourists in downtown Hill City in June 2011 was sentenced Monday to 7-1/2 years in federal prison. Paul F. Doering had earlier signed a plea agreement where he admitted that he concealed evidence after a June 17 Old West re-enactment of a gun fight on a Hill City side street in which three out-of-state visitors were injured, two seriously. Federal marshals placed handcuffs on Doering immediately after U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Viken sentenced the 49-year-old Summerset man. A six-time convicted felon, Doering was arrested last summer after authorities...

Local breaking news; no linkable sources yet. The Battle Mountain Humane Society animal shelter in Hot Springs, South Dakota burned to the ground this afternoon. No human injuries involved; one known animal death . At last word, a full accounting of the animals was on-going.

South Dakotans will still need permits to carry concealed handguns. A bill passed by the South Dakota Legislature would have removed that requirement for South Dakotans with a valid driver’s license. But Gov. Dennis Daugaard vetoed the bill, and on Monday morning the South Dakota House of Representatives failed to override that veto. The House voted 27-40 on the concealed carry bill, far below the 47-vote threshold needed to override a gubernatorial veto. Supporters said requiring people to get a permit to carry concealed handguns is an infringement on Second Amendment rights. “Vote to give South Dakotans back their rights,...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 16, 2011 CONTACT: Joe Kafka or Tony Venhuizen at 605-773-3212 PIERRE, S.D. – Gov. Dennis Daugaard has vetoed the following bill: HB1248 – An Act to provide for exceptions from certain misdemeanor offenses related to possession of handguns. For more information about this and other bills, please visit www.legis.state.sd.us Note: A copy of Governor Daugaard’s veto message follows. March 16, 2012 The Honorable Val Rausch Speaker of the House of Representatives 500 East Capitol Avenue Pierre, SD 57501-5070 Dear Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives: I herewith return to you House Bill 1248...

South Dakota HB 1248 is on Gov. Daugaard’s desk awaiting his signature. He has until March 19 to either sign or veto it. Gun Owners of America (GOA) strongly support this bill. I have been in touch with one of the co-sponsors of HB 1015, which was killed in committee. Rep. Betty Olson, SD District 28B told me that she took the original bill and added the requirement that residents must be 18 and hold a SD drivers license to carry a firearm without a state issued permit, because it was the only way to get the Bill out of...

In a stretch of less than 24 hours, Gov. Dennis Daugaard issued his second and third vetoes of the 2012 legislative session Monday evening, including in one instance his own legislation, and announced Tuesday afternoon he had signed into law the Republicans’ teaching-reforms legislation that he originated. The Republican governor’s decision to sign the heavily amended House Bill 1234 sets the stage for the South Dakota Education Association to begin its petition drive to refer the legislation to a statewide vote on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. Meanwhile, the vetoes seek to make technical changes that the Legislature will...

A bill to allow all South Dakotans to carry a handgun without getting government permission is awaiting Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s signature. HB 1248 would allow all law-abiding citizens in the state to carry handguns as a matter of right -- without having to submit to any obnoxious background checks or waiting periods. But while HB 1248 is a terrific bill, the Governor is not sure what he will do. ccw “It is uncertain whether the Governor will sign the bill,” reports Bonzer Wolf, a Second Amendment activist who covers freedom issues. “Gov. Daugaard said Wednesday (February 29) that he has...

House Bill 1248, passed the South Dakota Legislature last Tuesday awaits Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s signature or veto. If Gov. Daugaard signs the law, South Dakotans will bypass a layer of bureaucracy, including a background check and fee, before being able to carry a concealed weapon. Anyone with a valid South Dakota driver’s license who isn’t disqualified from carrying a concealed weapon – including convicted felons, people with a “history of violence” and people with mental illness – will be able to carry a concealed weapon without the permit under the state law and the U.S. Constitution. South Dakota law does...

Gov. Dennis Daugaard has some concerns about a bill to let South Dakotans carry concealed weapons without a permit, but is leaning toward signing it. The governor read that measure, HB 1248, Friday morning and plans to listen to past testimony about the bill before making his decision. He’s particularly interested in concerns raised by law enforcement agencies, saying he “generally (tries) to support law enforcement.” But the governor also frequently says he’s an active supporter of gun rights, and that feeling may come out on top with HB 1248. “I may not sign it, but I am inclined to...

Browse: Home / 2012 / February / 29 / Senate passes concealed carry bill on to governor Senate passes concealed carry bill on to governor By Associated Press on February 29, 2012 PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota lawmakers have given their final approval to a measure that would allow people to carry concealed handguns without a permit as long as they have a driver’s license and otherwise meet state standards for carrying guns. The Senate voted 22-11 Tuesday to pass the bill, which was approved earlier by the House. It will become law if signed by Gov. Dennis Daugaard.

A measure to let South Dakotans carry concealed weapons without a permit passed out of committee Friday morning. House Bill 1248 would require only a valid South Dakota driver’s license for an adult to carry a concealed weapon, as long as they were able to pass the background check currently required to receive a concealed carry permit. They would not be required to actually undergo that background check, though. People could be only be charged with a crime after the fact, if it was later found that they could not pass the background check. Now, the full Senate will vote...

Law enforcement responded to reports of "shots fired" at a residence just north of Box Elder shortly after 4:00 PM Wednesday afternoon. Box Elder Police officials say the incident was the result of an apparent home invasion. By about 4:30 PM they said the witness was still in the home being interviewed by the Meade County Sheriff's Office. Law enforcement officers were seen inspecting the backyard which was marked off by police tape and there was a hole in the glass of a back door. Chief Deputy Tom Wiltz told Black Hills FOX later Wednesday night that the woman in...

PIERRE, SD - A bill recently passed in the South Dakota House of Representatives would give more rights to employees. But some say it takes too many away from the business. House Bill 1132 passed with a vote of 49 to15. The backbone of the bill would let employees keep guns and ammo in their locked cars on company property, but some say it goes too far. Nearly the same bill failed in Pierre last year. Representative Marc Feinstein says the main difference this time is a new group of sponsors and the backing of the National Rifle Association. He...

PIERRE, S.D. — Two lawmakers who said they were threatened with smear campaigns if they didn't support a bill that would have allowed people to carry concealed weapons without a special permit nonetheless helped kill it Friday.

Thousands of Pennington County residents have permits to carry concealed handguns. If Rep. Don Kopp gets his way, they won’t need a permit. Kopp’s HB1015 would let any South Dakotan who can legally carry a gun conceal their handgun without having to get a state-issued permit. “This just doesn’t penalize the citizens, to make him buy a permit to defend himself — which I believe is unconstitutional,” said Kopp, R-Rapid City. Under the current system, people who want to carry a concealed weapon have to pay $10 and undergo a background check in order to get their permit. Applications can...

I've been job hunting for a while, and had to cast my net out in a wider arc. I'm looking at a possiblity in Sioux Falls, SD. I've never been there and never known anyone from there. Is it nice? Full of lefties? etc. Thanks in advance!

Dozens of people gathered at the Sioux Falls Convention Center Saturday night for a straw poll. The event is being put on by the South Dakota Republican Party. Voters could pick one of the 8 republican candidates. Tickets were $25. Herman Cain won the poll coming in with 35% of the votes. Newt Gingrich 23%. Mitt Romney 20%. Rick Perry 7%. Ron Paul 5%. Michele Bachmann 4%. Rick Santorum 3% and Jon Huntsman 0%.

Former Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern has been hospitalized for fatigue in South Dakota, a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday. Jullie Ward, a spokeswoman for Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, said the 89-year-old former senator from South Dakota was admitted to the Sioux Falls hospital for fatigue after completing a lecture tour. McGovern, a South Dakota congressman from 1957 to 1961 and U.S. senator from 1963 to 1981, ran for president against incumbent Richard Nixon in 1972 and lost in a historic landslide. He ran for president three times, making a try for the nomination in 1968 and 1984 in...

The Summerset man who fired a loaded gun during a re-enactment of a shootout last month in Hill City that wounded three tourists is a convicted felon who has been arrested at least 15 times since 1982. Paul Doering, 49, spent more than 50 months in Minnesota prisons for six felony convictions, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Pennington County authorities determined that the bullets that injured Jose Pruneda, 52, of Alliance, Neb., Carrol Knutson, 65, of Birchwood, Minn., and John Ellis, 48, of South Connellsville, Pa., on June 17 came from Doering’s gun. Three of four bullets fired...

Persistent Northern Plains rainfall and heavy mountain snowpack is setting the stage for the worst flooding on the Missouri River since 1993, reports Allen Motew, QT Weather meteorologist. These extreme levels of flooding are predicted to last for at least the next month. “The entire Missouri River Basin is flooding – only to get worse over the next several weeks,” Motew reports. “Abnormal rainfall is now expected to continue (or increase for many) across 1000’s of miles and millions of acres over the next eight days, from Alberta to Ohio.” Motew says recent reports show that the Missouri River is...

Fresh off its decision to ask an administrative law judge to stop Boeing's move to step up production in South Carolina because Boeing cited its wish to lower the risk of suffering more strikes, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is stepping up its game. Now Obama's NLRB is planning on suing two states, Arizona and South Dakota, seeking to invalidate those states' constitutional amendments that prohibit card check. This is just the latest step in Obama's campaign to reward and empower unions (and their campaign piggy banks) at the expense of jobs and growth (see "Unions Still in the...

Lisa Marie Johnson is a very brave woman. Lisa is a former Catholic Nun living in South Dakota. Lisa was on the forefront of the American Laws for America Courts legislative battle in South Dakota. Lisa has been on the forefront of the effort to expose the bizarre situation of four (4) mosques in Sioux Fall, SD a city of a mere 120,000 people. Most of the Muslims in Sioux Fall are from Somalia. Most recently Lisa organized a very successful screening of Iranium to a standing room only crowd of 300, with Frank Gaffney, Founder and President of the...

Sen. John Thune NOT Running for President February 22, 2011 12:09 P.M. By Jim Geraghty Tags: John Thune John Thune will NOT be running for president. For months now, my wife Kimberley and I have received encouragement from family, friends, colleagues, and supporters from across South Dakota and the country to run for the presidency of the United States. We have appreciated hearing their concerns about where the country is headed and their hopes for a new direction. During this time, Kimberley and I and our two daughters have given a great deal of thought to how we might best...

South Dakota Man Arrested For 131st Time Published: February 17, 2011, 8:19 AM RAPID CITY, SD - Authorities say they arrested a Rapid City man for the 131st time after he was caught drinking hair spray. Pennington County prosecutor Joss Zellmer says 53-year-old David Black Crow was charged with ingesting an intoxicant other than an alcoholic beverage, and disorderly conduct. Black Crow pleaded no contest to the charges and was sentenced to serve about a year in jail. The judge said he was unsure if Black Crow can be rehabilitated.

Tell potential presidential contender and South Dakota's most nationally visible "pro-life," Republican elected official, U.S. Sen. John Thune, to speak out against the reckless "justifiable homicide" bill in his home state's legislature! Dear Have you heard the latest out of South Dakota? A right-wing state legislator, in an effort to advance the embryos-are-citizens-too movement and demolish a woman's right to choose, has introduced a bill which would make homicide "justifiable" if done to protect the life of an unborn child. This is an unbelievably extreme attack on women's reproductive choice ... one that transcends the choice issue and crosses all...

SD lawmakers reject bill targeting Islamic lawsWednesday, 16 February 2011 11:37 PIERRE, S.D. (AP) _ The South Dakota Senate State Affairs Committee has rejected a bill that would have prohibited state courts from using certain foreign laws, including forms of Islamic law known as Sharia. The bill would have made void any court decisions or contracts signed in a country that doesn't have the same protections as the U.S. and South Dakota constitutions. Republican Sen. Dan Lederman of Dakota Dunes said his bill would protect South Dakotans who travel abroad or deal with foreign countries. Lederman's proposal mimics laws discussed...